Aircraft



June 18, 1929. A. A. KUCHER `AIRGRAFT Filed Julv 2, 1927 F. 2' INVENTOR.

A.4A.Kucher MM' ITORNE F- 11i WITNESS-ES:

Patented June 18, 192e.-

sf 1 OFFICE:

Armanw a.' or rmsgavaru.;

appnmm mea my a, 1921. sernan. aoaoxa.

Myinven'ton-relates to aircraft and particularl to the-structural' formation thereof.

and it as'for an object to" provide a structure of the characterdesignated which shall possess extraordinary strength/and rigidity consistent with its weight and ywhich shall be formed or composed of a material of such a nature that the various portions can be fabricated with extraordinary "ease and rapidity and the entire assembly readily and inexpensively effected..

These and other objects, which will be made apparent through the further description of my invention, may be attained by the employment of the apparatus hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a view, in perspective, showing constructional details of one form of aeroplane formed in accordance with1^ my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of one form `of expanded metal utilized in the construction of the aeroplane shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a partial view, inperspective, of a winlg portion of the aeroplane shown in Fig. l; ig. 4 is a artial view in elevation and Fig. 5 lis an end) view of one form of bracing memberyFig. 6 is a perspective view of a landin gear strut; Fig. 7 1s a diagrammatic view s owing the formation of the fuselage of the aeroplane and Fig. 8'is a detailed view of one of the bulkheads of the aeroplane.

It has heretofore been customaryA in the construction of aircraft ,toI form` the various portions, .such as the fuselage, ithewings, et cetera, of a very large'number of frame members composed of elther metal or wood and each so formed orfsha edfthatwhen assembled together in space relation, the .general form-desired is roduced. A 'covering material, such as fa ric or light sheet metal is then secured to the. exterior surface of the frame work in order to produce the completed art. l t will be obvious from the fore oing, that vsuch a form of construction is rat er expensive and ill adapted forfmanufacture upon a quantity production basis in that the material of which the entire frame structure is composed, either. wood orconventional and well-known structural metal shapes such'as Z bars, et cetera, is of such a'natur'al character that -it cannot be formed intov the required shapes without the ex enditure of considerable time vand effort. urthermore, withcon 'structions of this character, the frame members must necessarily be spaced at substantial distances in iiider that the weight and manufacturing cost may not become excessive. As a result, the outside covering,which is either fabric or light sheetemetal, is compelled to withstand t e entire force or load created by the au: pressure acting upon the spaces intervenmg between adjacent frame membersi Consequently, a very high stress is set up 1n the covering material, a condition which causes deformation, impairs safety and reliability of operation and increases maintenance costs.

I have therefore conceived the idea of forming various portions of the aircraft, such Aas the fuselage, wings, et cetera, of a materlal such as or similar to that shown in Fig.

2, which material is expanded metal. ordinary conventional wire screening material in that it may be formed from a solid plate, the manufacturing process being such that the metal is so worked and the strands So formed as to provide a sheet material which, although extremel light in weight, is extraordinarily rigidy both longitudmally and transverselyas well as laterally, In other words, it is capable of sustaining considerable load without serious deflection, while its Weight may be only one-fourth that of a solid plate of the same gauge material or its area about four times that of the solid plate from which it is formed.. Aside from this, however, the major advantage resides in the fact that it can be formed into almost any desired shape or conformation with extreme ease and with a 'minimum' expenditure of labor. A suitable covering 'material may then b e applied to the exterior surface of the metal and, becauseof the relatively close spacing of the strands, the stresses set up m the covering material are obviously very low.

Referring now to Fig. 1, I show one form of aero lane in which 15 represents lthe bod portion, 16 the win portions and 17 the'lan lng ear struts, all ormed of expanded metal of t e character shown in Fig. 2. A suitgenerally referred to as vable covering material such as, for example,

linen, cotton, veneer, or sheet metal, represented partially at 18, is applied to the exterior surfaces of the body, wing and strut This metal differs from lll) each'of the wings '16, Whichiporti'on forms the joint with the fuselage, may beflared orbellmouthed in .order to provide a longer and more rigi-d form of joint than that ordinarily provided, the nature ofth'e'strueture 'being such that this can be readily accomplished Without involving excessive labor costs. 'Inthis figure, 21 represents the connecting ange Which may be Welded or riveted to thel fuse? lage. Although I may employan .expanded metal composed of some aluminumalloy in order tol reduce the Weight to a minimum, nevertheless the structure isfinherently so light consistent with its strength that some heavier material which lends itself better to Welding, such as steel, may be employed. For

example, I'have found that a Wing structure constructednof steel inthe manner illustrated y complete with the outer coveringand internal bracing Weighsv approximately one pound per square foot of Wing surface, which figure compares-favorably `With the weight-of conventional wing structures.

' In Figs. 4 and 5I show one form of detail structure which may be utilized in any portion of the aircraft, as for'example, the wings for bracing'or staying the same.v This bracing member may 'also be formed from expanded metal and comprises a Web portion 22,

. a heel portion 23 and a 'binder strip 24 which is preferably spot Welded at a 'plurality of points', such-as 25, tothe web portion 22,'.in order to stiften the entire an le section. In the Wingl portion vshovvn in ig. 3, the ribs 26 as Well as the beams 27 'are formed in this manner. In securing the wing and bracing members together, I preferito first form the bracing member withoutthe binder strip 24, forming it so as to comply with the contour of the wingand thence'afterwards spot welding the binder strip 24 to the Web portion.

This is a' very important feature of my proclto ess ofconstruction because, in this way, the curvature of the-bracing member is permanently retained. The ends of the ribs 26,

shovvn at 28, are butted against the sides of InFig. 7 a detail of the fuselage or body.

-portion 15is illustrated. In -constructing this portion of the aircraft, I prefer to first form a cylinder of expanded metal, such as 34, and

-6' .tlrn circumferentially compress the end 3 5 so as to produce the required stream-line efattacco fest. -This is made readily possible'fbecause' o'fthe vemployment of expanded =metal which is readily susceptible to being compressed in this manner, the 'interstices or diamonds formed by the strands merely assuming Aa Width circumferentially. The body portion may .besuitably stiffened by means of suitable braces and bulkheads. l

`@ne form of bulkhead which I prefer to employ is that shown in Fig. 8 wherein a single longitudinal strip of expanded metal is formed into an annulus or ellipse 36 and the meeting ends Welded or riveted. A binder strip 37 may then be .secured to theinner periphery .for stiifening the same While suit-A able braces 38 and 39 may also be added. As shown in Fig. 1, a bulkhead may be'inserted into the stream line body portion 15 as at 41, the out periphery of the bulkhead being Welded to the annulus lof expanded metal which forms the body portion l5. @ne /very important yfeature of my form of construction consists in that the frames, braces, bulkheads, et cetera, may be securedto the ex` panded metal shell from the exterior as the Welded joints may be formed throu h the openings -in the met-al. As lshovvn in ig 1, suitable longitudinal stiffeners 42- may be provided in the body portion, these stifeners being formed preferably in the manner illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

From the foregoing it Willbe apparent that I have evolved a very novel and practical form of construction for aircraft whereby ,greater length longitudinally and a `lesser various portions of the aircraft, even though if irregular or unusual in shape,- may be rapidly fabricated With very little experi( i-4 ture of time or labor. By means of such construction, air crafts of rather unusual form having extraordinary high aerodynamic efficiencies but which heretofore have been foundf commercially impractical because 'of the manufacturing difliculties involved, can now be readily constructed at lesser cost than the conventional shapes. Not only is my form of construction advantageous from a manufacturing standpoint but also from a safety standpoint in that, When completed, the entire aircraft comprises a unitary structure, formed into a single, Vautogenous metal structure. It is obvious that an aircraft so conllt) structed might, under extraordinary circuml stances, bebent or deformed but complete rupture. orU failure ofthe parts is'not con# ceivable. v

While I have shown form of expanded metal for use intmy invention, nevertheless,

it is to be understood, that other forms of sheet metal having similar characteristics as to strength,`vveight, pliability, workability, et.

cetera, may be evolved Which would also come Within the purview vof my invention.' While I have applied my inventionto aircraft of the heavier-than-air type, .nevertheless it is lao ` least in part, of expanded equally applicable to aircraft 'of the lighterthan-air t pe.

While have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skllled in the art, that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modications, Without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed. by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

`1. An aircraft surface comprising, in combination, a layer of expanded metal and a covering material secured thereto.

2. An alrcraft structure composed of a` shell portion formed of expanded metal, and

-a covering material secured thereto.

y 3; An aircraft structure composed of a shell portion formed of expanded metal, a covering material secured thereto, and internal members bracing the shell portion.

4. An aircraft structure composed of a shell portion formed of expanded metal,'an outer covering material secured thereto, and

internal members bracingthe shell portion,

said internal members being composed, at

metal.

5. An aerofoil composed of a shell ortion formed, at least in part, of expandedp metal, and a covering material secured thereto.

6. A fuselage composed of ashell rtion formed, at leastin part, of expande metal,

and a covering material secured-thereto.

7. A fuselage composed of a shell ortion formed, at least in -part, of expande" metal, all outer covering material secured thereto, and bracing'members located interiorly of the shell portion, said bracing members being formed, at least in part, of expanded metal.

-8. A bracing member for aircraft structures 'composed of expanded metal and a binder strip secured thereto.

' 9. An internal bracin member for aircraft structures composet of expanded metal formed into substantially-an L cross-section,

secured to one of the lonthe expanded metal.

, bodying a shell fiared in the vicinity 10. A landing gear strut for aircraft emortion formed, at least in part, of expande metal and a covering material secured thereto.

11. An aircraft embodying wing and body portions, both of said win and bo y portions comprising a shell forme ,atleast 1n part, of

expanded metal, the expanded metal of the Wing portion being so secured to the expanded metal of the body portion as to form a unitary, autogenous structure, and a covering material secured to the expanded metal of both said wing and body portions.

12. An aircraft embodying wing and body portions, both of said wing and body portions having a shell formed, at least in part, of expanded metal, said wing portion being means for securing the flared ends of the Wing portions to the body portion, whereby they are securely joined, and an outer covering material secured to the expanded metal of both said Wing and body portions.

13. The method of constructing an aircraft structure which consists in forming a sheet 0f expanded metal into a predetermined conformation, Welding the two ends of the sheet together, and securing covering material to the outer surface thereof.

14. The method of constructing an aircraft structure which consists in forming expanded sheet metal into shape to form the body and Wing portions, Welding the wing portion to the body portion, and securing a covering material to the outer surfaces of both the body and wing portions.

15. Themethod of constructing a stiifening member for aircraft structures and the like having irregular contours, which consist in forming a strip of ex anded metal'into such shape as to substantial y conform longitudinally with the require and securing the structure to` the other longitudinal edge of the strip. f

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of J une, 1927. ANDREW A. KUCHER.

of the body portion,

contour, welding 'a binder to one longitudinal edge of the strip, 

